Photos reflect some of the changes in Ferguson since 2014
The fatal police shooting of Michael Brown on Aug. 9, 2014, was followed by months of often violent protests in Ferguson, the Missouri town where the black and unarmed 18-year-old was killed.
The unrest began the night after the shooting when a QuikTrip convenience store on West Florissant Avenue, just a few blocks from the site of the shooting, was looted and burned. Many other businesses were damaged or destroyed that night and in the weeks ahead, as protesters clashed nightly with police in riot gear and using military-style weapons and vehicles.
Ferguson is still in the process of recovering. The Ferguson Community Empowerment Center now stands at the site of the QuikTrip, housing the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, the Salvation Army and other offices. A new Boys & Girls Club building is going up a few blocks away.
But West Florissant is still scarred with empty lots where businesses had to be demolished, and empty storefronts where businesses moved away.
On Canfield Drive, the large makeshift memorial to Brown is long gone. A small, permanent marker near the shooting site remains, adorned with a few flowers or stuffed animals. The city replaced a patch of pavement at the actual shooting site, at the request of Brown's family.
This combination of photos shows a man trying to calm a group of protesters as police standoff in the distance on Aug. 13, 2014, top, and the same location, the corner of West Florissant Avenue and Canfield Drive, on July 24, 2019, in Ferguson, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
This combination of photos shows a rebuilt memorial in place of one that burned down Sept. 23, 2014, top, and the same location with faint "RIP" visible in the street on July 24, 2019, in Ferguson, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
This combination of photos shows members of the Missouri Highway Patrol walking past a building burned to the ground on Nov. 25, 2014, and the same location rebuilt with several new businesses on July 24, 2019, in Dellwood, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
This combination of photos shows police wearing riot gear outside the QuickTrip convenience store that had previously been burned and looted on Aug. 11, 2014, top, and the same location on July 24, 2019, now the home to an Urban League building in Ferguson, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
This combination of photos shows a St. Louis County police car passing a burned building on Nov. 26, 2014, and the same location that's now a vacant lot along West Florissant Avenue July 24, 2019, in Ferguson, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
This combination of photos shows police wearing riot gear walk toward a man with his hands raised on Aug. 11, 2014, and the same location with a woman and child walking on Canfield Drive toward West Florissant Avenue on July 24, 2019, in Ferguson, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
This combination of photos shows a man preparing to throw a flaming bottle as a line of police advance Aug. 13, 2014, and the same location along West Florissant Avenue on July 24, 2019, in Ferguson, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
This combination of photos shows protesters marching in the street as lightning flashes in the distance on Aug. 20, 2014, and the same location along West Florissant Avenue on July 24, 2019, in Ferguson, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Text from AP News story Photos reflect some of the changes in Ferguson since 2014, Jeff Roberson and Jim Slater.
Photos by Jeff Roberson
